That last paragraph runs pretty true in my opinion. The Korean and Chinese families I knew, even though they were Japanese citizens and with their children born in Japan were still ostracized for not being "Nihonjin." So, phreadom, it's not what you might expect, but it still has a deep vein in Japan.

two_heads_talking wrote:That last paragraph runs pretty true in my opinion. The Korean and Chinese families I knew, even though they were Japanese citizens and with their children born in Japan were still ostracized for not being "Nihonjin." So, phreadom, it's not what you might expect, but it still has a deep vein in Japan.

2nd class citizen has a whole different meaning in Japan.

Wow, it makes it look like Japan has a broader range of racism then the US. The US is a country of nothing but immigrants (other than Native Americans), and for the most part most ppl don’t care where you come from, as long as you can speak somewhat bad English you are ok. Then it’s broken down by color some, and then broken down from North or South depending where you live.

As for the odd ball man out in the pic, I think he has more to offer then anyone else in the pic, he stands out, he is not afraid to think different. When looking at the pic, I get the feeling of nationalism. Don’t ask me why. LOL

KINGZ wrote:As for the odd ball man out in the pic, I think he has more to offer then anyone else in the pic, he stands out, he is not afraid to think different.

That's your Western-style thinking showing through

In [traditional] Japanese society, standing out and thinking different are not good traits. People can't be successful if they don't work with the flow of those around them.

"Any nail sticking out gets hammered down" is a good way to describe a lot of Japanese workplaces

yea my point exactly... LOL I would never ever want that for anyone in my family, but there has to be jobs there where you have to be different, you have to think out side the box.. ie game developers, advertisers, mech engineers, designers, ect... so do they get shun by others becuase they do things different.

KINGZ wrote:As for the odd ball man out in the pic, I think he has more to offer then anyone else in the pic, he stands out, he is not afraid to think different.

That's your Western-style thinking showing through

In [traditional] Japanese society, standing out and thinking different are not good traits. People can't be successful if they don't work with the flow of those around them.

"Any nail sticking out gets hammered down" is a good way to describe a lot of Japanese workplaces

yea my point exactly... LOL I would never ever want that for anyone in my family, but there has to be jobs there where you have to be different, you have to think out side the box.. ie game developers, advertisers, mech engineers, designers, ect... so do they get shun by others becuase they do things different.

You are not thinking like a Japanese here. thinking outside the box isn't for the workers, it's for management or those with decision making responsibility, and even then, it's only decided after deliberation. We Americans tend to think that thinking outside the box is best.. Japanese see it a bit differently.. I think they see a bigger box with more things inside than we do.. we see a small box with nothing in it.. two different philosophies..

KINGZ wrote:yea my point exactly... LOL I would never ever want that for anyone in my family, but there has to be jobs there where you have to be different, you have to think out side the box.. ie game developers, advertisers, mech engineers, designers, ect... so do they get shun by others becuase they do things different.

Just to add what Two Heads said:

Just because someone LOOKS like they're fitting in and dressing like everyone else does not mean that they are an automaton, or not able to think outside of the box. It seems to be a pretty overwhelming idea in the west that to be a free thinker you also have to LOOK like a free thinker (whatever that means) and that only people who don't play by society's rules are those who can "think outside the box" as you put it.

People who are game developers and advertisers are definitely NOT looked down on in Japan.
And if you think that people in america don't get shunned for doing things different, ask yourself what people think of the guy down on 3rd that opens his trenchcoat to people and screams "My Colon is an alien name Beazle-wurst!!!"
Now he's DEFINITELY thinking outside the box. [/tongueincheek]

Sorry, my mother's been visiting for a week, and at first it was really hard to get her used to the idea that just because people look the same on the outside does not mean that they're the same on the inside....
She finally got used to the idea though. =)